Adam Scott – IAMNOTASTALKER

July 17, 2019July 23, 2019

Ed and Tori’s Coffee Shop Meet-Up from “Big Little Lies”

If the news reports currently lighting up the internet are to be believed, the drama that took place behind the scenes of Big Little Lies’ latest season is far headier than that which unfolded onscreen! At the center of the dustup, per a recent IndieWire exposé, is Jean-Marc Vallée, the director of the series’ epic first season, who HBO penned to surreptitiously take over post-production duties from Season 2’s Andrea Arnold, largely modifying her vision. According to the article, “While there was a significant reworking of the show’s story through additional photography and an increased reliance on Season 1 flashbacks, a large part of what guided Vallée’s reconfiguration of the second season was removing Arnold’s signature contributions. Sixty-page scripts were slashed down to 40-plus minute episodes, sources say, largely by chopping up a scene to remove what one source described as Arnold’s character exploration and ‘ephemeral stuff.’” Eleven – yes, eleven! – different editors were apparently brought in to complete the retrofit. The dissension shows. Big Little Lies’ current season has not only been disjointed but seriously lacking – in storyline, character development, script (where are Madeline’s zingy one-liners?), cinematography and locations – especially in locations. The first season sported some of the most appealing spots to ever come out of Hollywood – from the houses to the restaurants to the parks, every square inch of the BLL landscape was intoxicating! This season, the sites have been tepid at best (not that I’ll stop reporting on them!). Take for instance the illicit meet-up between Ed Mackenzie (Adam Scott) and Tori Bachman (Sarah Sokolovic) in “The Bad Mother,” which took place at a . . . Starbucks. While I’m the first to extol appreciation for the coffee giant, I recognize that its stores are rather generic and bland. Not exactly the space I would have chosen for a steamy, Monterey-style tête-à-tête. Arnold, you could have done better! Nevertheless, I just had to stalk the outpost where the segment was shot.

[ad]

As I’ve said many times before, stalking begets stalking. While visiting a different Big Littles Lies location a few weeks ago (one that I have yet to blog about), I struck up a conversation with the employees of the establishment who informed me that the Starbucks at 1 Kersting Court in Sierra Madre was also used in some Season 2 filming. Though I found it extremely surprising that the series would utilize a coffee chain and thought my new friends might even be mistaken, I popped on over there to snap a few pics.

So when the café popped up Sunday night in “The Bad Mother,” I recognized it immediately.

It is at the Kersting Court Starbucks that, in what is easily one of the season’s most cringe-worthy moments, Tori propositions Ed to have an affair. (I’m not even going to mention the type of diary Tori claims she keeps!)

Thanks to extremely tight angles, which seem to be a hallmark of this season’s shooting style, not much of the coffee shop is visible in the scene.

Though it is easy to discern that the segment made use of the corner window pictured on the left-hand side below.

To add insult to injury, the Sierra Madre Starbucks was also utilized for a scene in the season finale titled “I Want to Know.” While ordering a double Americano (NO milk!) at the outpost prior to heading to court to support Celeste Wright (Nicole Kidman), a “wrought” Renata Klein (Laura Dern) runs into “judgey judger” Mary Louise Wright (Meryl Streep) and gives her a rather obscenity-laden piece of her mind. The segment (which you can watch here) is extraordinary (seriously, how is Meryl so good?), especially the ending in which Renata storms out sans her Americano causing Mary Louise to tell the barista, “Put it in a bag. I’ll take it to her cause we’re going to the same —” and then points her finger toward the wall cavalierly, failing to mention that they’re both going to Monterey Superior Court where Mary Louise is suing Celeste for custody of her two children. Like I said, the scene is genius. The location? Not so much.

The Kersting Court Starbucks is a cute little spot to grab a cup of joe, no doubt. The patio out front is especially inviting. Regardless of that fact, though, I still maintain that it is by no means extraordinary enough to be featured on a series like Big Little Lies, which is so adept at showcasing striking locations, viewers practically want to dive through their screens to immerse themselves in the scenery. Well, that was the case with Season 1, at least. Season 2 left quite a bit to be desired.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Starbucks where Tori propositions Ed in the Season 2 episode of Big Little Lies titled “The Bad Mother” is located at 1 Kersting Court in Sierra Madre.

April 3, 2019April 2, 2019

The Derby from “Book Club”

They say that laughter is the best medicine. For me, it’s laughter coupled with stalking. While recovering from a minor surgery last October, I hunkered down in bed for a couple of days watching movies. The flick that brought the most healing was easily Book Club thanks to both its humor and the fact that it was lensed in Los Angeles. As such, I paused the 2018 romcom countless times throughout my viewing in order to research its locations, much to the Grim Cheaper’s chagrin. A few I was thrilled to recognize from the outset, including Hummingbird Nest Ranch, which I blogged about in March, and The Derby, one of Arcadia’s most historic and popular restaurants where Sharon Meyers (Candice Bergen) goes on a blind date with a man she meets though a dating app in the film. Though I dedicated a post to the eatery back in 2013, I figured it was worthy of a re-do.

[ad]

The Derby was originally opened as Proctor’s Tavern, a small steakhouse established by Arcadia Rotary Club charter member Hudson M. Proctor on Foothill Boulevard near Santa Anita Park in 1922.

It was moved to its current home, a sprawling brick building at 233 East Huntington Drive, in October 1931.

The restaurant did not become The Derby until December 1938 when it was purchased by Bill Peterson and his business partner, famed jockey George “The Iceman” Woolf, who rode such stallions as Seabiscuit and Azucar to victory.

Woolf filled the intimate, dimly-lit interior with memorabilia and bric-a-brac from his illustrious racing career, most of which is still on display today.

The Derby was hit by tragedy on January 4th, 1946 when George was killed during a race at the tender age of 35, shocking the equestrian community, the city of Arcadia, and the restaurant’s longtime patrons. Though his widow, Genevieve, continued to run the place for several years, she wound up selling it to Dominic and Lorene Sturniolo in 1951.

The Sturniolo family enjoyed a 50+-year tenure at The Derby until they, too, sold to the restaurant’s current owners, Dustin Nicolarsen and Michael Thomas, in 2007.

Today, the place is still going strong, almost one hundred years after its inception! In fact, it is one of my and the GC’s favorite Pasadena-area spots. Though it is on the pricey side, its happy hour can’t be beat!

In Book Club, The Derby is where Sharon meets up with her Bumble date, “bald tax attorney” George (Richard Dreyfuss).

In the scene, the two sit in the restaurant’s main dining room, which in the Proctor’s Tavern days was known as the “Spanish Room.”

After their date, Sharon and George head outside to The Derby’s parking lot where things get a bit – ahem – amorous.

The Derby was also the site of Derek’s (Adam Scott) birthday party in the 2008 comedy Step Brothers.

Though Seabiscuit did not do any filming on the premises, costume designer Judianna Makovsky spent time at the restaurant researching Woolf’s former racing uniforms. As she told the Los Angeles Times in a 2003 article, the experience was “completely invaluable.” Dominic and Lorene Sturniolo’s son, Charles, who was running the eatery at the time “even let us come over and dig through boxes and scrapbooks. In racing museums, they save the shirts and hats but not what’s underneath. Nobody had the britches or shoes. People just didn’t save it. We were thrilled to find The Derby. It brought to mind that George Woolf was a real man, not just a character in a story.”

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Derby, from Book Club, is located at 233 East Huntington Drive in Arcadia. You can visit the restaurant’s official website here.

March 27, 2017July 16, 2019

Madeline’s House from “Big Little Lies”

Every once in a while a show comes along that absolutely grips me. Granted, I watch – and get hooked on – a lot of series, but among them are certain standouts. The Hills, Vanderpump Rules, and Beverly Hills, 90210 come to mind, though my obsession with the latter was admittedly next-level. My latest fixation is Big Little Lies, the murder-mystery miniseries based on the book of the same name currently airing on HBO. Besides a scintillating premise, well-drawn characters, and a dynamic timeline (the story is told mainly through flashbacks), the show is real estate porn at its finest! I am thoroughly consumed with each of the main character’s homes and was thrilled to learn via this fabulous People magazine article that all but one is located in the Los Angeles area and not in Monterey where BLL is set.

[ad]

Out of the four principal residences used on the series, the beachfront Cape Cod belonging to Madeline Martha Mackenzie (Reese Witherspoon) is my favorite. So I recently set about tracking it down. As it turns out, the place is an onscreen regular that I had actually already stalked!

My initial thought upon first seeing Madeline’s house in the pilot episode of Big Little Lies was that it looked like a modernized version of the gray shingled pad where Sarah Owens (Cassidy Rae) and her fellow models lived in the 1994 Melrose Place spin-off, Models Inc. (Man, that was a great show! I am still flabbergasted over the fact that it only lasted one season.) I stalked that property, which can be found at 30760 Broad Beach Road in Malibu, back in March 2013. In no way did I think the two places were one and the same, though, so I did not give the subject further attention. Thanks to the People article, I knew that Madeline’s home was also located in Malibu and started perusing beachfront dwellings in the area via aerial views, but, frustratingly, came up empty-handed. Circling back to my Models Inc. inclination, I decided to pull up some screen captures from the show and just about fell over! The reason I thought Madeline’s residence looked like a modernized version of the Models Inc. house is because it is a modernized version of the Models Inc. house! Apparently, the property was given a bit of a facelift in recent years. As you can see in comparing the images above and below, the renovation included a change in paint color, the removal of several awnings, and opening up the second floor deck.

I actually stalked the property post-remodel, but only visited its street side. While I had every intention of heading around to the rear of the home, while walking there, I somehow stepped into some tar (like a bunch of it – my feet were covered for days!) and had to turn back.

Ironically, that wasn’t my only visit to the house. Later that year (October 27th, to be exact), Miss Pinky Lovejoy, of the Thinking Pink blog, married Keith Coogan, of Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead fame, at the Malibu West Beach Club, which is located next door to Madeline’s pad. Because I am seriously directionally-challenged and because I had parked near public beach access – which is a ways away from the residence – during my initial stalk, I did not realize the venue’s proximity to the home until looking at it recently via aerial views. D’oh! As soon I put two and two together, I remembered that the bridesmaids (including myself) and Keith had climbed onto a bluff adjacent to the club to pose for a wedding photo. I had an inkling that Madeline’s residence was likely visible in the shot and, sure enough, I was right! In the image below, which Pinky was nice enough to let me post here, you can see it on the left-hand side!

Image may contain: 8 people

In real life, the 1979 property features a 6,000-square-foot main house with 6 bedrooms (2 of which are master suites), 7 bathrooms, 3 fireplaces, a Jacuzzi, a deck, a rock sauna, a family room with a bar, a wine cellar, and a large chef’s kitchen with 3 ovens, 2 dishwashers, and Viking appliances. The detached 2-story, 950-square-foot guest pad boasts 1 bedroom, 1.5 baths, and a full kitchen.

The pad, which sits on a 0.6-acre lot featuring 80 feet of beachfront land, is currently available as a vacation rental with rates running from $3,000 to $5,000 a night.

Interestingly, only the rear side of the property is shown on Big Little Lies. A different home is used as the front of Madeline’s residence and, unfortunately, I have not yet tracked that location down.

The dwelling’s actual interior also appears on the show – and it is nothing short of idyllic.

The kitchen area is uh-ma-zing! I find it quite ironic that, according to the People article, Madeline’s house is intended to be the least fabulous of the bunch – excluding Jane Chapman’s (Shailene Woodley) – and “represents her lower economic standing.” Like, huh? Madeline’s residence is pretty much my dream pad! I would give my eye teeth to live there!

Besides being featured in Models Inc., Madeline’s residence also portrayed the home of Dr. Mark Sloan (Dick Van Dyke) and his son, Steve (Barry Van Dyke), during Seasons 3 through 8 of the television series Diagnosis Murder.

The pad was also where the Stewart family lived from Seasons 1 through 3 on the Disney series Hannah Montana.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Madeline’s house from Big Little Lies is located at 30760 Broad Beach Road in Malibu. You can visit the residence’s vacation rental website here.